DSpace Collection:http://hdl.handle.net/2381/3942015-03-31T20:47:35Z2015-03-31T20:47:35ZLocal government, local legislation: municipal initiative in parliament from 1858 to 1872Morris, Roger John Bowringhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/318472015-03-11T02:02:27Z2015-03-10T16:38:31ZTitle: Local government, local legislation: municipal initiative in parliament from 1858 to 1872
Authors: Morris, Roger John Bowring
Abstract: The years between the first Local Government Act 1858 and the establishment of the
Local Government Board in 1872 saw great changes in England and Wales: growing
populations brought growing problems in crowded living conditions, but there were
also increasing wealth, manufacturing and intellectual resources in a context of major
international influence and self-confidence, and rapidly expanding countrywide
infrastructure.
Against this backdrop, the municipal authorities of this period had few general law
powers to regulate local conditions, or to provide services. While Parliament was still –
at least at the outset – broadly antagonistic to centralisation and the enactment of
common standards, it was willing to grant private Acts – special local Act powers – to
those places that sought, and could justify and pay for, the means to improve and invest
in their localities. This thesis identifies and analyses for the first time the 335 local
Parliamentary Bills, and from them the 278 resulting Acts, that municipalities promoted
in the years 1858 to 1872 inclusive.
Three things stand out from the huge mass of local statute-book material which these
278 Acts comprise – themselves only a small fraction of the total of private Acts passed
in the era of railway mania, and of much else besides. The first is that, far from being
an unco-ordinated mass of inconsistent, quixotic provisions as private Acts are
sometimes thought or assumed to be, these Acts have a substantial degree of cohesion
as a body of material. Secondly, the towns and cities of northern England secured more
than half of them. Thirdly, the costs of promotions (and the vested interests involved in
them) represented a huge and often wasteful outlay that a more pragmatic and forwardlooking
Parliamentary attitude could have greatly reduced.
These and other matters are examined in detail across the whole spectrum of local
legislation for the first time. There are no acknowledgements requiring to be listed.2015-03-10T16:38:31ZBank efficiency and lending propensity: evidence from commercial banks in IndonesiaAnwar, Mokhamadhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/318072015-03-07T02:02:38Z2015-03-06T16:07:55ZTitle: Bank efficiency and lending propensity: evidence from commercial banks in Indonesia
Authors: Anwar, Mokhamad
Abstract: Indonesia is one of the emerging economies, which has been adopting a bank-based system in the economy. It is very important to investigate the Indonesian commercial banks’ performance given their substantial contribution to the development of the country. This thesis aims to measure and analyse the performance of Indonesian banks in terms of their efficiency and lending propensity over the period 2002-2010. The period testifies the recovery phase after the turmoil caused by the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-98 as well as the revocation of the regulation of minimum threshold on commercial banks’ small business loans (finance) in 2001. This thesis employs frontier methods in estimating bank efficiency where both parametric and non-parametric linear programming approaches are used, namely Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). The former is used to estimate the technical efficiencies and the latter is used to estimate the cost efficiencies of Indonesian banks over the period 2002-2010. This thesis also examines the lending propensity of Indonesian banks reflected by the tendency of their total loans and small business loans over the study period. The findings suggest that the technical efficiency of Indonesian banks tends to decrease whilst the opposite tendency is associated with their cost efficiency during the period. The downward trend of their technical efficiency stems from the fact that the period was the post-crisis of 1997-98 where banks were still unsteady to maintain high level of outputs over inputs. While the upward trend of their cost efficiency reflects their intensity to operate more economically in employing their resources during the period. The latter result testifies that Indonesian bank management took lessons learnt from the failure of their previous operations during the crisis. In addition, their total lending propensity is prone to increase over time during the period albeit they have not reached yet the optimum proportions. In contrast, their lending propensity to small businesses witnessed a diminishing pattern over the period. A regulatory change in 2001 seems to discourage Indonesian banks to lend to small businesses. Loans to deposits or lending proportions emerges to be the most important factor enhancing bank efficiency, whilst bank size and bank deposits are the foremost factors influencing the lending propensity of Indonesian banks over the study period.2015-03-06T16:07:55ZThree essays in Turkish banking: development banks, Islamic banks and commercial banksOzturk, Huseyinhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/313992015-01-09T02:01:54Z2015-01-08T15:34:52ZTitle: Three essays in Turkish banking: development banks, Islamic banks and commercial banks
Authors: Ozturk, Huseyin
Abstract: This thesis is composed of three empirical chapters each of which examines separate
segments of Turkish banking system from different perspectives. First empirical
chapter investigates regional loan distribution of development banks. The findings
in this chapter suggest that political connection has played a significant role in
development lending. There is also geographical bias which leads to higher volumes
of loans in the regions close to the capital city. Second empirical chapter examines
Islamic banks and compares them with conventional banks in terms of profitability
and competition grounds. The results reveal that Islamic banks earn more returns
with respect to conventional banks. The results also suggest that the regulatory
changes of the last decade improve market power of these banks. The last empirical
chapter investigates micro structure of Repo and Reverse Repo Market of Turkey
in which only commercial banks can transact. This chapter initially presents the
network topologies of this market that helps one to understand the characteristics
of complex network in this market. This chapter then computes a connectivity
measure and investigates the drivers of connectivity out of domestic and external
factors. Although results provide very rich insights, external factors dominate the
behaviour of network in this market.2015-01-08T15:34:52ZStudy of Chinese constancy and contingency managementTseng, Shih-Chiang.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311312014-12-16T02:42:24Z2014-12-15T10:45:15ZTitle: Study of Chinese constancy and contingency management
Authors: Tseng, Shih-Chiang.
Abstract: As we rush headlong into the 21st century, with science and technology making new and almost daily shocks, how do we deal with making decisions How will we manage the future Is the past of any use to us any more This thesis puts managerial techniques into a historical perspective and investigates methods created by Chinese people. Most importantly it shows how the economic future can be confidently addressed by reference to one of the oldest of Chinese classic texts, I-Ching, the Book of Changes. Combining the two apparently conflicting concepts of "Change" and "No Change" I-Ching is shown by the author to have manifold and vital applications in the real world of organisational management. This thesis illustrates the way that any institution can be divided into three levels of management and Jiow these levels can combine with the three basic concepts of Heaven, Humanity and Earth (life) in a way that, in coordination with the "change, no change" awareness of I-Ching, can resolve the problems of any organisation. According to the theory of Change and No Change, "No Change" is to represent the unchanged basic principle. In Chinese style management "No Change" means "to settle other people down", "Change" must be made according to the principles and be regulated. All managerial activities such as planning, organising, leading, control, and training, are considered in detail in the theories of "Change" and "No Change". This thesis posits a managerial approach and understanding that will bring success to an organisation, not only for today but also for tomorrow that awaits us.2014-12-15T10:45:15ZExchange rate exposure : an industry and firm level analysisCukur, Sadik.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311302014-12-16T02:42:23Z2014-12-15T10:45:15ZTitle: Exchange rate exposure : an industry and firm level analysis
Authors: Cukur, Sadik.
Abstract: This thesis aims to establish the relationship between Real Exchange Rate (RER) changes and Firm value changes. It is a well-known reality that RER changes may affect the value of the company through competition, cash flow, and profit margin.;Theoretically, this study investigates exchange rates, efficiency, and exposure. Empirically, it tests the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) at disaggregated level by using cointegration analysis. The results confirm the requirement of disaggregate analysis among industries and/or countries. The exchange rate exposure is tested by using OLS technique. We try to modify the explanatory variables, exchange rate, in order to find the exact relationship between RER changes and Firm value changes.;Several Issues are evaluated in empirical parts. Industry portfolio results tend not to show a significant relationship possibly because of aggregation. Therefore, individual regressions are carried on. The results, clearly, exhibit that exposure is present for British Companies but exposure depends on several factors such as the firm, the industry, the size of the company, and the deviation from PPP.2014-12-15T10:45:15ZA cultural kaleidoscope : managing the European companyCommunal, Christine Chantal Emilie.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311292014-12-16T02:42:23Z2014-12-15T10:45:14ZTitle: A cultural kaleidoscope : managing the European company
Authors: Communal, Christine Chantal Emilie.
Abstract: This thesis provides a comparative study of managerial practices in Europe. Patterns of behaviour and preferred modes of organisations are identified in four countries, based on an in-depth case study of a chosen-specific European company.;While the corporate culture and industry remain constant, national context manifests itself as the essential variable between the different operations. The thesis proposes/argues that this factor - national context - is a powerful variable which frames the activity of the management.;Europe is a continent of diversity; each nation has unique traditions, particular historical and cultural roots as well as its own institution framework. This diversity means that managers learn to operate in the manner that suits their particular context. The thesis documents such national divergence in terms of managerial practices and behaviour.;The process of integration of European Union member of States and of globalisation also contribute towards the shaping of management. The case study company, as a leading provider of Information Technology services, is among the affecting managers across the board - and thus regardless of national context - are also identified: these include the pressure to achieve profit and efficiency. In addition, a degree of convergence between human resource management policies and practices also makes itself visible.;The thesis demonstrates, above all, the influence of national culture and national environment vis-a-vis management; an argument which may be reaffirmed given the context of globalisation. In brief, a European company is a cultural kaleidoscope.2014-12-15T10:45:14ZEmotions and other related issues affecting purchaseLau, Lorett Bo Ying.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311272014-12-16T02:42:21Z2014-12-15T10:45:14ZTitle: Emotions and other related issues affecting purchase
Authors: Lau, Lorett Bo Ying.
Abstract: The purpose of this research was to assess the effects of Emotion and related issues: Cognition and the Subjective Norm on Purchase, and whether the Degree of Chineseness affects Emotion, Cognition and the Subjective Norm. An attempt was made to test a proposed model incorporating the above concepts.;The methodology employed was through person-to-person interviews via public intercepts at the exits of Giordano and Bossini to people who were eighteen and above and had just visited one of these casual wear chain stores. Casual wear was just an "object" chosen as the item selected for "purchase" had to fulfil the criteria that both samples (Hong Kong and the China coastal city of Guangzhou) were familiar about and had an identical meaning. The systematic sampling technique was employed. The overall usable sample size was 563 (280 from Hong Kong and 283 from Guangzhou).;On findings of the relationships between the dependent variable purchase and the independent ones of emotion, cognition, the subjective norm and the degree of Chineseness, hypothesis testing was performed by Regression analysis with t test significant at 0.05. On emotion, it was found that good mood significantly affected purchase in a positive way whereas bad mood resulted in the negative direction for both samples, with greater variations for Guangzhou. On cognition, there appeared to be no correlation with purchase. On the subjective norm, the variation very significantly accounted for the variation of purchase, especially so for Guangzhou people. These findings were consistent with the findings on the aspects of Chineseness relating to the influences of significant others. On the degree of Chineseness (DFC), as the author wanted to obtain a preliminary understanding of the interrelationships between the DFC and emotion, cognition and the subjective norm, the Pearson's Correlation Coefficient Matrix was performed. The results revealed that DFC was positively correlated with cognition, the subjective norm, but not with emotion (both good and bad moods).2014-12-15T10:45:14ZInternational marketing : managerial and organisational factors associated with export success ; the case of Saudi Arabian exporters of non-oil productsAl-Obaidi, Mansour Abdulaziz.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311282014-12-16T02:42:21Z2014-12-15T10:45:14ZTitle: International marketing : managerial and organisational factors associated with export success ; the case of Saudi Arabian exporters of non-oil products
Authors: Al-Obaidi, Mansour Abdulaziz.
Abstract: Empirical investigations on firms' export performance have concentrated on firms from developed countries. However, in developing countries generally, and in Saudi Arabia particularly, little is known about this issue among their firms. Therefore, this study explored the export behaviour and performance of manufacturing firms in Saudi Arabia.;The main objective of this thesis was to compare firm-level characteristics of successful and less successful exporters together with other factors associated with their export success. Additionally, the obstacles facing Saudi exporters were identified.;The sampling frame comprised of 411 firms which have been involved in exporting for at least two years identified by the Saudi Export Development Center. A postal questionnaire was used as the main research instrument to collect the data from exporting manufacturers, and the total number of usable questionnaires received was 99, a response rate of 24.1 percent. This sample was divided in two groups: successful and less successful exporters, according to their export performance (export ratio and export growth) in international markets over a three-year period (1993 to 1995).;On the basis of existing literature, hypotheses were formulated and tested, to see if there are differences in the relationships between the two groups in their firm characteristics (size, age, export experience and export market strategy) and in other factors associated with export success (export market planning, market research, export department, management strength and adaptation of their marketing mix to the export market).;The findings of this study suggested that there is no correlation between the size, age and export experience of the firm and its export success. However, regarding export strategy, a significant positive correlation was found between the success of exporters and export strategy (number of export markets). Those firms adopting a market diversification strategy were more successful than firms adopting a market concentration strategy.2014-12-15T10:45:14ZThe embedment of process consultation in strategy formulationNachman, Ben.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311262014-12-16T02:42:20Z2014-12-15T10:45:13ZTitle: The embedment of process consultation in strategy formulation
Authors: Nachman, Ben.
Abstract: The main goal of this research is focused on increasing the probability that strategic decisions will be implemented.;The dissertation describes the strategic decision-making process followed by the top executive teams of two organisations, within a consultation framework employing the Process Consultation approach. A particular form of SWOT analysis (SWOT Positioning) was performed as a platform for interventions. It also comprised a basis for the employment of other analytical and creative tools. In constructing this research, it was hoped that the combination of Process Consultation with SWOT Positioning in this manner would prove helpful in achieving the research goal.;This research found that the likelihood of implementation of decisions seemed greater following the current consultation process than in the two organisations' previous experience with 'expert' and 'doctor' consultants. Indeed, by-product decision implementation had already begun. The preparation for general implementation of strategic decisions and the declaration of commitment on the part of team members exceeded that of the same organisations in the past. The research cannot definitively show actual implementation, as that stage was not within its scope. However, both teams indicated a sense of ownership of and responsibility for the decisions, which had been formed gradually during the process.;Creativity was nurtured in the construction of strategic action alternatives, which were then organised in a Level of Innovation Matrix. The Matrix is a tool which improves the participants' understanding of the degree of complexity and difficulty involved in the implementation of new strategies.;Indeed, the quandaries which promoted this research have been somewhat diminished. This is not to claim a single conclusive solution has been discovered to all the questions asked. Rather, the statement made here is that the particular process proposed might be helpful in answering these questions in appropriate situations.2014-12-15T10:45:13ZExport marketing support activity : a study on supporting export promotion programmes (EPPs) in PakistanMalik, Mohammed Ehsan.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311252014-12-16T02:42:18Z2014-12-15T10:45:13ZTitle: Export marketing support activity : a study on supporting export promotion programmes (EPPs) in Pakistan
Authors: Malik, Mohammed Ehsan.
Abstract: Export marketing support services offered by the government and other agencies, particularly in developing countries, seem well-suited to exporting firms for their involvement in foreign markets. The effects of governmental export marketing support on firms' exporting activity is found a limited researched issue in international marketing, particularly the measurement of the effects of export promotion programmes (EPPs). Such programmes specifically are directed at assisting exporters' export market entry.;The study addresses the role and effectiveness of export marketing support as the acquisition of such support is influenced by management's orientation and information search and use behaviour (Reid, 1984; Katiskeas and Piercy, 1993). The analysis involves:;1- A comparison of the sample groups of programmes' users (UEP) and programmes' non-users (NUEP).;2- A detailed investigation of the export promotion programmes (EPPs) in export market entry.;Overall, the thesis findings suggest that certain behavioural differences exist between firms using export promotion programmes (EPPs) in their export market entry and the firms not using EPPs. But no difference was found as far as export performance of both sample groups is concerned. However, users of programmes seem more organised and proactive in export marketing activity.;Measurement of the effectiveness of export promotion programmes (EPPs), however, appears complicated by a variety of factors which could not be clearly attributed to the use of EPPs. Such programmes are seen as having a lasting effect on the exporting firms' export market involvement.;Although the role of export promotion programmes must be seen as complementary to firms' export marketing efforts in general, these are accorded importance in export market entry.2014-12-15T10:45:13ZCorporate social responsibility in the petroleum industry : an ethnographically-grounded analysis of ascriptions of responsibility amongst various stakeholders in the Nigerian oil industryUmar, Ibrahimhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311242014-12-16T02:42:17Z2014-12-15T10:45:12ZTitle: Corporate social responsibility in the petroleum industry : an ethnographically-grounded analysis of ascriptions of responsibility amongst various stakeholders in the Nigerian oil industry
Authors: Umar, Ibrahim
Abstract: This thesis examines the nature of the ascribed responsibilities of corporations in the petroleum industry with a focus on Shell and its stakeholders in Nigeria. It proposes and enacts an empirical approach to exploring the concept via an 'ethnographic' prism through respondents' representational accounts based on a field work interviews and observations. It seeks to demonstrate that rich empirical data on the perceptions of stakeholders can offer fresh insights into the issue. This is significant bearing in mind that most of the literature on CSR is largely based on limited descriptive and extensive prescriptive theoretical expositions.;The thesis argues that making philosophical representational claims is not the exclusive domain of academic theorists and philosophers. Ordinary people also make philosophical representational claims in their day-to-day utterance. The thesis captures this using theories of representation deployed in action in analyzing the ascribed responsibilities of corporations within the realm of the debate between and among Shell and its numerous stakeholders in Nigeria.;It uses refining as a central metaphor in demonstrating that all representational claims that portray any version of any account are a result of refining through a process of blocking, summarizing, simplifying, and deleting claims and counter claims. Most importantly, the thesis offers a mouthpiece to the different categories of stakeholders, not on a judgmental basis as to who is right or wrong, but as an array of rich voices each articulating its own version based on its orientation, circumstances and motives. The thesis concludes that responsibility is a contested concept that can best be interpreted in many different ways, without necessarily privileging one view or voice over the others.2014-12-15T10:45:12ZProductivity decomposition in European banking with accession economies : an application of parametric and nonparametric Malmquist techniquesOlgu, Ozlemhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311232014-12-16T02:42:15Z2014-12-15T10:45:12ZTitle: Productivity decomposition in European banking with accession economies : an application of parametric and nonparametric Malmquist techniques
Authors: Olgu, Ozlem
Abstract: This thesis analyzes the performance levels of 22 euro zone banking industries on a panel data of commercial and savings banks. The analysis is achieved by grouping the sample as euro zone developed (EU-12) and accession (EU-10) countries. The main objective is to identify the efficiency and productivity disparities between the two groups of countries during 1997--2001. Furthermore, this thesis investigates the impact of the single currency and the recent EU enlargement on the parametric and nonparametric findings. The empirical analysis is based on the comparison of a time-varying stochastic parametric distance function, with conventional DEA. Distance functions are used to generate a parametric stochastic estimate of generalised Malmquist productivity index as suggested by Orea (2002). Further, both of the generalised Malmquist and DEA-Malmquist productivity indices are decomposed into technical efficiency change, technological change and economies of scale change components. The aim is to investigate how the relevant components affect the productivity scores and how the results vary with different measurement techniques.;The empirical findings suggest that, in general, EU-12 commercial banks are performing better than EU-12 savings banks. There is evidence of an inverse relationship between bank size and the total factor productivity scores of all groups of banks under analysis. In contrast, there is no evidence of a relationship between bank size and technical efficiency estimates. A slight positive impact of the launch of the euro in 1999 is identified, though just a short term effect. Nearly all of the figures experienced a recession over the post-euro period, i.e. 2000--2001. Moreover, the positive effects of the euro are suggested to be more significant in euro zone commercial banks than their savings counterparts. Economies of scale factors are identified as significant on the overall productivity scores. However, technological change is suggested as the main reason of accession countries not catching-up with their developed counterparts.2014-12-15T10:45:12ZA bi-paradigmatic analysis of organisational culturePrice, Deborahhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311202014-12-16T02:42:12Z2014-12-15T10:45:10ZTitle: A bi-paradigmatic analysis of organisational culture
Authors: Price, Deborah
Abstract: Despite culture being a core focus of the study of organisations for over 30 years, the concept is marked by disagreement. The literature on culture tends to present a series of dualisms with each side displaying different meta-theoretical assumptions. Notwithstanding these differences the characterisations of culture are fundamentally the same. For those who view culture as corporate, culture is a shared set of values, beliefs and attitudes devise and disseminated by management. For those who view culture as organisational, culture is a more or less shared set of values, beliefs and attitudes produced through social construction. The production of these discrete sets of values implies that, from either perspective, culture is a normative structure. The only difference being in the derivation of that structure. This normative structure means that, from the perspective of corporate culture, the ways in which people think and act are guided by the meta-theoretical assumptions which found the functional paradigm. In contrast, from the perspective of organisational culture, the ways in which people think and act are guided by the meta-theoretical assumptions which found the interpretive paradigm. This thesis argues that the framing effect of these meta-theoretical assumptions strongly influences research outcomes. This is demonstrated through a bi-paradigmatic analysis of a single organisation's culture. The bi-paradigmatic approach is produced by sets of research methods consistent with the functionalist and the interpretive paradigms. The analysis generates two distinctive contributions. First a deeper understanding of how research outcomes are shaped by paradigmatic assumptions. Second a re-conceptualisation of organisational culture. Here the move away from a mono-method approach reveals contradictory views of culture. Rather than a unitary set of values, attitudes and beliefs culture is seen as consistent of disparate value sets in need of reconciliation. Culture is re-conceptualised as the rubric which guides that reconciliation.2014-12-15T10:45:10ZAsking the question - 'what is organization?'Spoelstra, Sverrehttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311212014-12-16T02:42:13Z2014-12-15T10:45:10ZTitle: Asking the question - 'what is organization?'
Authors: Spoelstra, Sverre
Abstract: Philosophy plays an increasingly important role in organisation studies. This is particularly true for the recent sub-discipline in organisation studies known as critical management studies. In this thesis I am concerned with the relations between philosophy, organization and organization studies. I argue that philosophy performs two radically different roles in organization studies. The first role corresponds to the under-labourer conception of philosophy. According to this conception, philosophy is important for organization studies because it performs functions for organisations studies. Most notably, it is considered to provide different methods, paradigms, or ontological and epistemological frameworks in which one can perform organisational research. Within this approach, which I identify as the dominant conception of philosophy in organisation studies, philosophy remains an outside force: philosophy does itself not belong to organisation studies. The second, contrasting, role of philosophy in organisation studies is immanent to organisation studies itself: philosophy as the creation of concepts of organisation. In this conception, which I present on the basis of a reading of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, philosophy is understood to have a positive dimension which is lost when it is understood in terms of its usefulness for the social sciences. Philosophy of organisation, in this sense, means asking the question "What is organization?" philosophically, i.e. by creating concepts of organisation. It is this second role of philosophy that is further elaborated in this thesis; by asking what it is (part I) and also by exploring the philosophy of organization in the works of theorists such as Spinoza, Robert Cooper and Michel Foucault (part II). Taken together, the two parts argue for a more important role of philosophy of organisation in organisation studies, as distinguished from a philosophy for organisation studies.2014-12-15T10:45:10ZOvercoming unboundedness in malmquist productivity measures : emprical tests of the mamquist total factor productivity indexAdesokan, Muhideen Bolajihttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311222014-12-16T02:42:13Z2014-12-15T10:45:10ZTitle: Overcoming unboundedness in malmquist productivity measures : emprical tests of the mamquist total factor productivity index
Authors: Adesokan, Muhideen Bolaji
Abstract: The widely applied non-parametric Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI) is beset by Unboundedness under variable returns to scale technology assumptions. Potentially, this leads to inaccurate productivity measurements. The Malmquist Total Factor Productivity Index (MTFP) has been proposed as an alternative index for overcoming Unboundedness and has seen applications at the firm level. I extend the body of knowledge on these two indexes by applying them both to aggregate level data to examine the extent to which they are beset by Unboundedness and furthermore by decomposing the MTFP. Furthermore I address the pervasive gap in the literature on the relative performance of global regions. This level of study has received little attention while much work has been done on the relative performance of individual nations.;I find that the MTFP completely overcomes Unboundedness whereas the 5% of distance functions computed with the MPI are subject to the problem. In addition there is a statistically significant difference between the variable returns to scale (VRS) MTFP and MPI. There is a similarly significant difference between the variable returns to scale MTFP and the constant returns to scale MPI that has been widely used as its proxy. Thus I conclude advocating the use of the MTFP where the production relation being examined is best characterised by variable returns to scale technology assumptions. The Far East region was found to have achieved best performance in the 1980 -- 1999 period. There is an indication, albeit tenuous, that the regions with organised economic blocs achieve relatively high levels of performance.2014-12-15T10:45:10ZA study of Taiwanese civil service reform from 1993 to 2003 : with reference to the UK experienceLee, Chung-Chenghttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311192014-12-16T02:42:10Z2014-12-15T10:45:09ZTitle: A study of Taiwanese civil service reform from 1993 to 2003 : with reference to the UK experience
Authors: Lee, Chung-Cheng
Abstract: During the period from 1993 to 2003, the Taiwanese government has taken a series of measures to reform its own civil service. Some ideas have been introduced for the reform such as "Effectiveness", "downsizing", "consumer orientation", "contracting out", "privatisation", "introducing entrepreneurial spirit"...etc, which are similar to that of the UK. After a critical evaluation, we found that Taiwanese civil service reform has accomplished some progress. At the same time it has some defects as well. We also found two specific phenomena bothering the reform. These are firstly placing too much emphasis on organisational reform and secondly political factors firmly affecting the due process of the reform. In addition, the Taiwanese civil service has many positive proposals to help raise its capacity. From the aspect of accountability, it should gear up to match this democratic value. Most importantly, this service has to find a better way to reshape its reform objectives and goals, according to the global trends and its own national needs. With reference to the UK experience, we have concluded that there are some feasible ways, which could be adopted as a future approach for Taiwanese civil service reform. First of all, the transplantation of a Best Value model would be a useful framework to handle overall reform thoroughly and systematically. Secondly, the establishment of a Change Management System could deal with the possible challenges. Thirdly, the strengthening of the strategy concept should be well developed. Lastly, the pursuit of political impartiality is important, as the Taiwanese civil service system needs more space to develop in advance.2014-12-15T10:45:09ZCo-operative discourse : a multi-level analysisKaralak, Suparadehttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311182014-12-16T02:42:09Z2014-12-15T10:45:09ZTitle: Co-operative discourse : a multi-level analysis
Authors: Karalak, Suparade
Abstract: This research investigates the discourse of co-operative management and leadership. It explores the social construction of the concept of the 'co-operative' and the philosophy that underpins co-operative ideology, culture and values. The research employs a discursive research methodology. More specifically, discourse analysis is applied to a sample of speeches (n=23) given by prominent co-operative figures between 1823 and 1997. These texts are analysed using three discursive methods, namely: content analysis, narrative analysis and intertextuality analysis. These approaches are utilised to explore different levels of discourse, i.e.: the micro-level (the interrogation of words and sentences using content analysis); the meso-level (the examination of embedded stories and plots within texts using narrative analysis) and; the macro-level (the exploration of underlying patterns and recurring themes across texts using intertextual analysis). There are two main findings of this research. First, there is an emphasis on the notion of 'heroic/ideal' leadership within the texts which runs contrary to the espoused core values of shared responsibility and democratic member-based control within co-operatives. Second, and somewhat paradoxically, the discourse of co-operatives is becoming more business like and entrepreneurial in nature while the rhetoric of profit-making organisation is generally becoming more inclusionary, participative and democratic. The research highlights that there is an inherent tension within the co-operative movement between wanting to retain traditional values and the need to incorporate contemporary business practices (e.g. hierarchical leadership) and business values (i.e. capitalistic ideals). Given that co-operatives are caught between traditional commitments and adjusting to external requirements of being profitable, there are implications for identity and there is an need to rethink some of the assumptions, concepts and values which underpin co-operative discourse. Beyond the substantive contribution, this research also offers insights into the scope for, and benefits of, applying a multi-method, multi-level approach to discursive study of organisational phenomena.2014-12-15T10:45:09ZThe effectiveness of teacher recruitment and selection in Oman : an analysis of stakeholder perceptionsAl Tobi, Khamis Saud.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311162014-12-16T02:42:06Z2014-12-15T10:45:08ZTitle: The effectiveness of teacher recruitment and selection in Oman : an analysis of stakeholder perceptions
Authors: Al Tobi, Khamis Saud.
Abstract: Oman's public education system has expanded rapidly, with the number of teachers employed rising from 32 in 1970 to more than 36,000 in 2006. Widespread educational reform is currently underway and a number of stakeholders have voiced concerns about the quality of the novice teachers being appointed. This thesis responds to these concerns through an exploration of the practices and processes used to recruit and select primary and secondary teachers for Oman's public schools. A review of related literature, exploratory analyses and field observations gave rise to a number of research and practical aims. These focuses on assessing the extent to which teacher recruitment and selection (R&S) in Oman corresponded, in theory and in practice, with the normative prescriptions found in the best practice literature; exploring the conflicting perceptions of different stakeholders about the effectiveness of these processes, and contributing to the development of theory-based educational policy in Oman. The empirical study employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with recruiters, head teachers and school district officials. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to cluster samples of newly recruited teachers. 496 completed questionnaires were analysed representing about 8% of the total population. The study produced two major findings. First, many of the techniques and processes employed in the R&S of teachers in Oman deviate significantly from those that have been shown to be effective elsewhere. Second, there is a widespread feeling amongst novice teachers that their psychological contracts with their employer have been violated and almost half of all teachers surveyed wish to leave the profession. The findings challenge the widespread community assumption that there is a problem with the quality of new teachers and highlight the importance of managing the expectations and perceptions of appointees throughout the selection and recruitment process.2014-12-15T10:45:08ZBanking sector distress in the North Cyprus economyGunsel, Nilhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311172014-12-16T02:42:07Z2014-12-15T10:45:08ZTitle: Banking sector distress in the North Cyprus economy
Authors: Gunsel, Nil
Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to empirically investigate the micro and the macro determinants of bank fragility in the North Cyprus economy over the period 1984-2002 using a multivariate logit model and logistic survival analysis. The empirical methodology employed in this analysis allows for the distinction between the determinants of the likelihood of bank failure and the survival time. Firstly, the model links the probability and the timing of banking problems to a set of bank-specific factors, then following the identification of bank-specific variables, the approach proceeds by combining these banklevel factors with the macro-environment that may have exacerbated the internal troubles of the financial institutions. The macro factors considered in the analysis are macroeconomic characteristics, financial and structural weaknesses, external shocks and potential contagion effect from Turkey.;The empirical findings suggest that capital inadequacy, low asset quality, low profitability, low liquidity, small asset size, a fall in the real GDP growth, high inflation, rising real interest rates, high credit expansion to public and private sector, a sharp increase in the real exchange rates, adverse trade shocks and high budget deficit, the ratio of M2 to foreign exchange reserves, implicit/explicit deposit insurance, financial liberalization, weak regulation and supervision and external shocks and exchange rate pressure on Turkish Lira played an important role in the escalation of the 2000-2002 banking distress in North Cyprus. Moreover, an empirical examination of the results for survival analysis reveals that low leverage, low liquidity and high credit that extended to the private sector are the main determinants of the time to banks failure in North Cyprus.;Keywords: North Cyprus economy, banking sector, bank fragility, logit, survival.2014-12-15T10:45:08ZBecoming et alSen, Arkohttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311152014-12-16T02:42:05Z2014-12-15T10:45:07ZTitle: Becoming et al
Authors: Sen, Arko
Abstract: The thesis repeats a becoming of difference and Otherness. It seeks to fold, refold and unfold an Otherness of representation. Attention is given to the core process of becoming. A disrupted pattern is maintained throughout and, sometimes, this takes the form of a labyrinth produced by an assemblage of inversions and pseudonymous writings. In this way, linear and hierarchical ordering and organization is strongly contested. A textual multiplicity is affirmed, which challenges orthodox organizational thought and conventional philosophy based on the repetition of the same, similar and identity. Experientially, immanence is made material for form an image of thought with fragments, fluctuating speeds and intensities. These folds produce four middles of thought. These arrangements of multiplicities and singularities explicate, implicate and attend to the participation of the Other. The movement is productive of inclusive Heterotopic spaces that are, at once, hospitable to the arrivante, nomads and the repetition of difference. Other theoretical developments are accommodated that address the Eternal Return, autonomy, chance, multitudes, hospitality and the folds of the inside and the outside. The Otherness of Art and Eastern thought are brought forth within the poesis of the thesis. A paradox addressed, amongst others, concerns alterity and the manner in which the thesis has and can be presented, and/or re-presented, to make clear an immanence and socially productive image of thought, which seeks only a repetition of difference.2014-12-15T10:45:07ZAn empirical examination of the factors influencing the implementation of information technology systems in the Saudi private organisationsAl-Turki, Saleh M.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311122014-12-16T02:42:00Z2014-12-15T10:45:07ZTitle: An empirical examination of the factors influencing the implementation of information technology systems in the Saudi private organisations
Authors: Al-Turki, Saleh M.
Abstract: This study was conducted in Saudi Arabia (SA) to identify and examine the main factors that entice private organisations in SA to implement Information Technology (IT) Systems. The study started by conducting an exploratory study using interviews, focus groups meetings to meet some IT academics and professionals in SA to find out about their opinions about the current IT environment in SA. Two mini-case studies were used to discuss the experience of two Saudi private organisations with implementation. The findings of this study were used to guide the direction and contents of the research. It was decided after the exploratory study that the research focus on the experience of Saudi private organisations with IT.;Questionnaires were distributed to 500 private organisations in the Saudi private sector in the Eastern Province in SA. 170 organisations completed and returned the instrument making the response rate to reach 34%. An analysis of the received data revealed that 89.4% of the respondent organisations are using IT systems with differing degrees of success as proposed by this study. This leaves 10.6% of the responding organisations being classified as unsuccessful (did not adopt IT systems at all); however 77% of these organisations stated that they will adopt IT systems in the near future.;The main reasons that entice Saudi private organisations to implement IT systems as revealed by this study include: to replace manual operations, to improve and facilitate decision-making, to improve the quality of the products and services, to overcome competition, to improve communication between the organisation and its clients/suppliers. Organisations which did not implement IT systems stated the main reasons include high costs, current way of doing business is sufficient, business is too small, lack of qualified IT staff. In addition, the study found significant relationship between IT implementation and senior manager age, his nationality, his education level and his IT knowledge.2014-12-15T10:45:07ZImpact of oil and other economic forces on the Saudi stock marketAltoyan, Abdulaziz S.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311132014-12-16T02:42:01Z2014-12-15T10:45:07ZTitle: Impact of oil and other economic forces on the Saudi stock market
Authors: Altoyan, Abdulaziz S.
Abstract: The Saudi Arabian Stock Market went through several changes since the substantial increase of oil prices in 1973. This study firstly analyses the impact of oil revenue in developing the market and shaping its major characteristics. Secondly, it examines the effect of oil prices fluctuation and other macroeconomic variables as a determinant of stock return over the period between 1991 and 2000.;The main empirical findings indicate that the market risk premium is the most important factor in determining stock return. The influence of oil prices fluctuation over and above the market premium was explicit in firms belonging to subsidised sectors such as electricity and agriculture.;The impact of other economic variables varies among different firms listed in the market. Exchange rate has a significant effect on the banking firms while other variables have limited impact over and above the market on various companies, indicating that the effect of these variables are captured by market index. The results of empirical analysis become more explicit when replacing the market premium factor with market timing risk. In general, study suggests that under the current circumstances, the market premium is the most appropriate measure in determining the return in the Saudi Stock Market.2014-12-15T10:45:07ZThe weak-form efficiency of the Saudi stock marketAl-Razeen, Abdullah Mohamed.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311142014-12-16T02:42:02Z2014-12-15T10:45:07ZTitle: The weak-form efficiency of the Saudi stock market
Authors: Al-Razeen, Abdullah Mohamed.
Abstract: This study has examined the efficiency of the Saudi stock market by applying the weak-form test of the efficient market hypothesis, because the only information available is the prices of past years. To test for weak-form efficiency of SSM, the prices over a four-years period from 1992 to 1995 have been statistically analysed.;This thesis is divided into nine chapters. Chapter one is an introduction to this thesis. Chapters two and three briefly outline the structure of the Saudi Arabian economy and the financial system. The following two chapters review the classification of financial markets in general and the structure and regulation of the Saudi stock market.;Chapter six reviews literature concerning the efficient market theory and its implications in many studies.;Chapter seven discusses research methodologies used for market efficiency tests at the weak-form level in this study. In addition, data transformation and description are discussed.;Chapter eight contains the empirical examination included tests for empirical distribution of log price changes, auto-correlation tests, runs test and filter rules. The results are summarised in chapter nine.;However, this weak-form evidence indicates that the Saudi stock market has a lower level of efficiency than other large markets. The findings of this study are following the many researchers suggestions that small markets tend to have lower levels of efficiency than large well-traded markets.2014-12-15T10:45:07ZThe internationalisation of the small-to-medium sized enterprise (SME) : a critical realist approachLashley, Jonathan Graham.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311112014-12-16T02:41:58Z2014-12-15T10:45:06ZTitle: The internationalisation of the small-to-medium sized enterprise (SME) : a critical realist approach
Authors: Lashley, Jonathan Graham.
Abstract: The Small- to Medium- Sized Enterprise (SME) has attracted the attention of researchers and governments because of the increasingly important role it is playing in national and international economies. The current research is directed towards understanding the internationalisation of this important economic unit, specifically the internationalisation of SMEs in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom.;The research adopts a critical realist philosophy, used by researchers to explain the decision-making process, and applies it in a different context to provide insights into the internationalisation process of the SME. A critical realist approach is used as it enables an understanding of the roles of structures and the contingent environment in facilitating differing levels of SME internationalisation. These are factors that are believed to operate at a level below that of the observable.;The study adopts a mixed methodology (a questionnaire survey and two company case studies) that identifies three main issues, including, the international orientation of the industry, previous international experience of management, and the age of the firm. The survey also identified two other issues, perceptions of competition levels, and technology. All of these factors heavily influenced the differing internationalisation levels seen.;The two case study companies were used to illustrate the issues at a real level, highlighting the effect of the structures of the capitalist mode of production and the supply chain. The roles of these structures were shown as not deterministic, as the affect of structure was only exhibited under particular contingent conditions in the external and internal environments.2014-12-15T10:45:06ZEvaluating the significance and determinants of relationship marketing strategies within the former NHS internal market : a comparative analysis of NHS trust and district health authority perspectives in EnglandGray, Keith Edgarhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311092014-12-16T02:41:56Z2014-12-15T10:45:06ZTitle: Evaluating the significance and determinants of relationship marketing strategies within the former NHS internal market : a comparative analysis of NHS trust and district health authority perspectives in England
Authors: Gray, Keith Edgar
Abstract: This thesis evaluates the extent to which relationship marketing (RM) strategies were prevalent within the former NHS Internal Market and the determinants of such strategies. The research achieves its aims through the analysis of a postal survey of NHS Trust hospitals and District Health Authorities in England and case studies of the Warwickshire and Dudley health markets. The impetus for the research is the paucity of literature evaluating RM in the NHS context, resulting from the predominance of the traditional economics perspective on the purchaser - provider relationship. The latter is unable to systematically evaluate relational behaviour within quasi - markets given its adversarial contracting focus. Subsequently, the Relationship Marketing Paradigm is used to design a framework appropriate to evaluating relational oriented behaviour within the NHS Internal Market. To further investigate the determinants of NHS Trust hospital's RM strategies a series of hypotheses were developed and tested using Logit modelling techniques. These hypotheses sought to explain contract augmentation, contract customisation, loyalty discounting, default contracting and the use of cost - sharing contracts. In addition the case studies further examined the role of 'trust' within the purchaser - provider relationship through evaluation of contractual, competence and goodwill trust typologies. Equally, the case studies investigated the negative impact of RM strategies from the perspective of purchasers, providers and service users. The key conclusion is that RM was significantly more widespread than the literature suggests, indicating the centrality of relational oriented contracting. Furthermore, the nature of and determinants of the identified relationship marketing strategies were found to be mature and complex. Moreover, this weight of evidence questions Government policy's success in generating a competitive environment within the NHS Internal Market based upon adversarial contracting. To explore the likelihood of RM remaining an important phenomenon within the "new" NHS arrangements, evidence is drawn from the case studies and predictions from the Logit analysis.2014-12-15T10:45:06ZEmployee characteristics and their impact on the value of the firm (as indicated by the firm's share price)Wayte, Kennethhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/311102014-12-16T02:41:57Z2014-12-15T10:45:06ZTitle: Employee characteristics and their impact on the value of the firm (as indicated by the firm's share price)
Authors: Wayte, Kenneth
Abstract: This research attempts to establish a link between employee characteristics and the value of the firm. It does this by establishing the characteristics which are considered important and have been identified in the past in the Human Capital Literature. These are then tested, using regression analysis, against the share price to show that a linear relationship exists and examine how "strong" that relationship is.;In order to justify this link it is important that, at least for all practical purposes it can be argued that markets are efficient. The efficient market hypothesis is therefore examined and a conclusion is reached that although there are problems with the hypothesis it can be used as a good working tool.;Once the basic arguments had been made a questionnaire was produced and sent to selected companies chosen from the F.A.M.E. data base. It is this data base that was used together with the completed questionnaires and the London Stock Exchange daily official list as the sources of the raw material with which to test the hypothesis.;A regression was then run (using SPSS/PC) and it was found that after certain modifications to the data set being used were made (explained in detail in chapter seven) there was in fact a linear relationship between employee characteristics and the companies share price.;To strengthen the above hypothesis the effect of layoffs on a firms share price was examined. It can be hypothesised that if the layoffs are reported to be for reasons of efficiency then the share price around the data of the announcement should rise. The research confirmed that the market regards employees as a resource and that the share price falls as the resource is depleted. This then tends to confirm the 'employees as a resource' argument used in the hypothesis.2014-12-15T10:45:06ZEfficiency and productivity growth in the European airlines industry : applications of data envelopment analysis, Malmquist productivity index and Tobit analysisFethi, Meryem Duygun.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311082014-12-16T02:41:54Z2014-12-15T10:45:05ZTitle: Efficiency and productivity growth in the European airlines industry : applications of data envelopment analysis, Malmquist productivity index and Tobit analysis
Authors: Fethi, Meryem Duygun.
Abstract: In its early phase of liberalisation process along with some privatisation experiences, the European airlines industry provides a fascinating case study to investigate the recent performance record and assess the determinants of performance. We aim to analyse the performance of 17 European airlines over the period 1991 to 1995. We utilise the DEA Windows analysis to capture efficiency changes over time and the DEA based Malmquist productivity index to measure the productivity change and decompose any change into efficiency and frontier shift effects. Further we use Tobit analysis to determine the potential determinants of airline efficiency. We find that results from windows analysis reveal an increasing trend in the efficiency scores for most airlines in the sample whereas Malmquist analysis shows a decline in the first two periods, but some evidence of turnaround in 1993-1994, probably with the introduction of the third liberalisation package. The Tobit results show no significant role for state ownership, but indicate the importance of subsidy and concentration policies in explaining the inefficiency differences among airlines.2014-12-15T10:45:05ZEffects of environment, structure and past performance on strategic decision processes : an empirical investigationAltunoglu, Ali Ender.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311062014-12-16T02:41:52Z2014-12-15T10:45:05ZTitle: Effects of environment, structure and past performance on strategic decision processes : an empirical investigation
Authors: Altunoglu, Ali Ender.
Abstract: This research examines the nature and impact of environmental and organisational variables on strategy processes and firm performance in Fortune 500 firms. For several decades, research on decision processes has developed conflicting findings about the superiority of the different types of decision process. This study maintains that environmental and organisational conditions of the firm ought to be examined by the strategist.;This thesis has three main objectives:;(i) to provide a detailed review of the synoptic and incremental schools,;(ii) to investigate how environmental and intraorganisational variables affect the decision processes,;(iii) to investigate the interaction effects of environmental and organisational factors with decision processes on firm performance.;To attain such objectives, multiple regression analysis is applied.;The first main finding is that environmental munificence should be taken into consideration in the strategic decision process. Secondly, organisational variables, centralisation, formalisation and size have considerable impact on the variations in the strategy process. This thesis maintains that as organisational structure becomes more centralised and formalised and firms grow in size, top executives tend to employ more rational and comprehensive decision processes. Another main finding is that organisations which use the synoptic process in less uncertain environments are likely to perform better than firms which implement incremental processes.;The findings imply that environmental and organisational factors are crucial in the synoptic-incremental dimension. In line with contingency theory, this thesis suggests that the strategic decision process is affected by the external environment and organisational variables.2014-12-15T10:45:05ZThe embedment of co-integration in time series analysis : problems and cases for single equation approach to exchange rate modellingDike, William Chidi.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311072014-12-16T02:41:54Z2014-12-15T10:45:05ZTitle: The embedment of co-integration in time series analysis : problems and cases for single equation approach to exchange rate modelling
Authors: Dike, William Chidi.
Abstract: In this thesis, the long-run Purchasing Power Parity model and the Flexible Price Monetary Approach to the exchange rate are studied. The purchasing power parity (hereafter the PPP) model is a two country model and basically assumes that, the same goods or basket of goods should sell for the same price in any two countries when measured in a common currency. This implies that the exchange rate depends upon the price levels. Similarly, the flexible price monetary approach (hereafter the FPMA) is also a two country model, however, it assumes that the exchange rate is influenced by relative money supplies, relative income and relative interest rates instead of the relative price levels. These models are examined via the estimation of a single equation using co-integration analysis techniques developed by Engle and Granger (1987). Co-integration is a very powerful and reliable technique in investigations involving non-stationary series. By their nature, non-stationary series fluctuate up and down away from their mean, implying that they have the tendency to possess different mean at different point in time. However, the linear combination of two or more non-stationary series integrated of the same order (have the same property) is expected to change to stationary (stability), and co-integration technique was developed to achieve this transformation (change non-stationary series to stationary series). The Engle and Granger (1987) two stage procedure for co-integration analysis has been widely applied in cases involving up to two variables (non-stationary time series). The present study involves more than two variables in a single equation. Therefore it makes an original contribution to the literature in that it has successfully applied the single equation approach widely used for estimations of up to two variables. Thus, the study provides a bridge between the conventional approaches that adopt standard testing procedures, and the more recent sophisticated approaches that adopt multivariate equations or the full information maximum likelihood (FIML). Stationarity properties of individual series including exchange rates are analysed via a unit root test by means of both the Dickey Fuller (DF) and Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) procedures. The Lagrange Multiplier (LM) was applied to select an appropriate number of augmentations in the case of the ADF tests. When initially tested in levels, all series showed the property of non-stationary 1(1) variable, but were all changed to stationary variables when tested in first difference form. The period-by-period deviations of the models from their respective equilibrium positions are analysed via the error correction mechanisms (ECMs). The ECMs encompass the variables of the short-run dynamic model as well as those of the long-run static model, all of which are estimated in a single error correction equation. The robustness of this approach (single equation estimation) shed a great light on the treatment of the PPP model and FPMA respectively as long-run models of exchange rate determination.2014-12-15T10:45:05ZAn empirical investigation of electronic data interchange (EDI) utilization in the Saudi's private organizationAl-Sudairy, Mohammed A.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311052014-12-16T02:41:51Z2014-12-15T10:45:05ZTitle: An empirical investigation of electronic data interchange (EDI) utilization in the Saudi's private organization
Authors: Al-Sudairy, Mohammed A.
Abstract: Cost, global competitive pressures and continuous innovations are forcing many organizations to rethink the manner in which they do business and to reengineer themselves in order to conduct business with low overhead costs. Information Technology (IT) introduced what today we refer to as the information age or, more aptly, the telecommunication area. Modern IT offers the possibility of effective coordination between suppliers and customers through electronic linkage which speeds up the business process. This type of technology is known as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).;The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of EDI by Saudi organizations. The study proposes a relationship between the use of EDI and organizational, IT and pressure variables. The study is based on data collected through a questionnaire distributed to 337 organizations in Saudi Arabia. 125 questionnaires were received giving the high rate of return of 37%. An analysis of data revealed that nearly one-third of the responses, twenty six, (27%) were using EDI and ninety two (73%) were not using EDI.;The study also revealed that there were barriers to EDI adoption in Saudi Arabia. These barriers included the lack of professional MIS staff and inadequate training programs together with poor levels of communication and an inadequate awareness about EDI. Beside these factors, there were additional factors that hinder IT utilization. These include shortages of skilled IT staff, a lack of knowledge about computers, a lack of technical expertise by the IT staff on both sides, the organizations "user" and the providers "suppliers", together with a lack of technical support by IT suppliers and poor IT education level. Moreover, the results also indicated that there was a relation between the use of EDI and pressure from customers and suppliers. However, no relationship was found between the use of EDI and the organizational and IT related variables.2014-12-15T10:45:05ZManagerial decision-making : subordinate-managers' participation in management decisions in the Saudi security educational institutes and centresAl-Arifi, Mohammed Abrahem Saad.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311032014-12-16T02:41:48Z2014-12-15T10:45:04ZTitle: Managerial decision-making : subordinate-managers' participation in management decisions in the Saudi security educational institutes and centres
Authors: Al-Arifi, Mohammed Abrahem Saad.
Abstract: Managerial decision making is an essential element of management. The complexity of the post industrial society, the growth of education, the speed of technological change, and the twentieth century informational revolution are important factors which increase efforts for participatory decisions. Today's subordinates are more educated, highly skilled, and more experienced than ever before. They cannot be managed by the old authoritarian decision making styles. However, the participative process of making a decision can help to increase subordinates' satisfaction, provide recognition and responsibility and reduce any conflict and ambiguity experienced by the work group.;The approach used in this study is mainly exploratory and descriptive in nature and takes, as a starting point, a number of questions and hypotheses on the current managerial situation of the Saudi security educational institutes and centres. The methodology consists of the use of a survey questionnaire to obtain empirical data from the subject managers. This is to identify their managerial decision-making styles, the degree of participation that might exist in the decision making process and attitudes towards the concept of participation and its techniques. The data were analysed through the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that the five decision-making styles (AI, AII, CI, CII and GII) were all utilised by the respondents. The semi-autocratic style (AII) was predominantly employed by the respondents. The non-programmed decisions were most often made by the joint decision-making style (GII). The programmed decisions were most often done by the semi-autocratic style (AII).2014-12-15T10:45:04ZThe competitive advantage of nations : an exposition of the limitations of the Single Nation Diamond Theory in the case of Zimbabwe's exports to the OECD and South Africa marketsMapuranga, Silencer W. Z. Mzembi.http://hdl.handle.net/2381/311042014-12-16T02:41:49Z2014-12-15T10:45:04ZTitle: The competitive advantage of nations : an exposition of the limitations of the Single Nation Diamond Theory in the case of Zimbabwe's exports to the OECD and South Africa markets
Authors: Mapuranga, Silencer W. Z. Mzembi.
Abstract: In searching for explanations to a Nation's export growth studies have been focused on identification of the determining conditions and analysing their relationship with the countries' export competitive advantage. One outstanding framework of such analysis has been the 'Single Diamond' (SD) conditions approach developed by Michael Porter, (1990). However, criticisms of this model range from its limitation in explaining the competitive advantage of small or developing countries, up to and including its exclusion, by definition, of factor conditions that are domiciled outside national borders. Furthermore this model's variables choice is too subjective such that their individual importance to the overall national competitive advantage are deemed country specific. Consequently alternative models that include causal factors that derive from cross- border networking of all kinds of commercial intercourse have been posited in the form of a 'Double' (DD) or 'Multiple' (MD) Diamond framework. This research's major objective was to test if Porter's Single Nation diamond framework could be used to fully identify and explain the source of 'determining' conditions that give Zimbabwe (an African Developing Country) its international competitive advantage in Developed Countries markets. Thus using local determining conditions alone (SD) and then a combination of local and foreign (DD or MD) conditions it was possible to identify the limitations of the SD framework. The results of this research are in line with experiences of other small countries and they suggest that the single diamond approach is limited in its explanation of the identity and sources of conditions that determine that country's competitive advantage. The Double-Diamond framework linking Zimbabwe to S. Africa's advanced economy was superior to both the SD and MD alternatives. The conclusion reached was that in the case of Zimbabwe the DD framework of analysis should be the basis for designing economic and trade development policies. However, in the context of this DD approach, further empirical research should focus on the influence of the DCs economic growth on the LDC's development pattern.2014-12-15T10:45:04ZDrinking water from flower vases the story of a crisis in the NHSEvans, David Russellhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/293192014-12-06T02:01:50Z2014-12-05T16:17:28ZTitle: Drinking water from flower vases the story of a crisis in the NHS
Authors: Evans, David Russell
Abstract: The present study examines the storytelling surrounding the organisational crisis at the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust over the period from March 2009 to November 2010, based on the data collected from twelve sources and 1274 documents relevant to the case.
The study addresses three core questions: How does storytelling relating to one event unfold into multiple stories? How do the roles of storyteller and audience change over time? How does the evolution of storytelling bring about the unintended consequences?
The study is grounded in the critical management studies and “managerialist” literatures on stories and storytelling in organisation and derives from these three main elements of its theoretical framework: ante-narrative, poetic delivery, and message simplification. The study suggests that these elements share a unifying notion of speculation. Speculation here is seen as an antidote to the potential stultification of the relationships between the storyteller and the audience in the accounts of storytelling. To counteract such stultification, the study brings the dynamic nature of storytelling to the fore and examines the evolution of storytelling over time using the methodology of frame analysis.
Frame analysis identified and traced seven frames that emerged as the storytelling surrounding the crisis evolved. The study found the role of the storytellers and audience became mutually dependent and blurred as the events unfolded. The storytellers and audience were intertwined through a need to maintain a shared account of the events at MSFT. They were bound together through their speculative storytelling in order to answer the questions of “did it really?” and “so what?”
The analysis has also identified two unintended consequences of the storytelling surrounding the crisis: sacralisation and memorialisation. Together, these consequences have produced a shield (metaphorically speaking) that has served to protect the organisational structures of the NHS from a more radical questioning.2014-12-05T16:17:28ZRestoring intuition to the negotiation table? Cognitive processes in negotiation decision-making an investigation of negotiators in the EU institutionsDebaty, Pierre Andre Gilleshttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/292432014-11-05T09:12:21Z2014-11-04T16:41:54ZTitle: Restoring intuition to the negotiation table? Cognitive processes in negotiation decision-making an investigation of negotiators in the EU institutions
Authors: Debaty, Pierre Andre Gilles
Abstract: What are the cognitive processes used by negotiators in uncertain and complex environments? What are the task environments which may induce negotiators' cognition towards intuition and quasirationality? These are the questions raised in this thesis.
The dominant negotiation research literature, on the basis of insights from Bounded Rationality theory and the school of cognitive illusions, replies to it by normatively prescribing the use of analysis and by advising against the use of intuition and quasirationality. In the same time, there is a dearth of literature and empirical data about this topic with professional negotiators in real negotiation tasks.
Facing such a situation, this thesis reviews the available literature and highlight gaps in our current understanding of the cognitive processes of negotiators in uncertain and complex task environments, and of intuition in particular. The thesis then builds on this discussion to develop the analytical framework based on Social Judgment Theory's insights. This framework in turn guided the subsequent qualitative investigation, through the use of the explicitation interviewing technique, of the cognitive processes of professional negotiators in the EU institutions, particularly in complex and uncertain task environments.
Through this empirically grounded and theoretically informed approach, this thesis highlights the widespread use of non analytical cognitive modes (intuition and quasirationality) in some key negotiation tasks, the importance of trust in such a case to ensure a match between the cognitive mode used and that induced by the task, and, conversely, the impact of political expediency in the choice by negotiators of a cognitive mode different from that induced by the task. Last, it highlights the possible cognitive conflicts resulting from the use of different cognitive modes by agents and principals.
This thesis suggests that the mainstream negotiation literature fails to give enough importance to the cognitive impact of tasks and to the use of non analytical cognitive modes in negotiation tasks. In particular, it does not factor in that, in certain tasks, negotiators may not have any other cognitive choice, but also for good cognitive reasons, than using intuition and quasirationality. As a consequence, the thesis makes an argument in favour of a more systematic attention to the cognitive impact of tasks in negotiation, and concludes that further research on this topic is essential to arrive at a better understanding of how tasks influence
negotiator's cognition , how and to what extent a cognitive match between the cognition used and that induced by the task can impact the outcome of a negotiation.2014-11-04T16:41:54ZBanking efficiency, risk and stock performance in the European Union banking system : the effect of the world financial crisisJanoudi, Saleem Mohammed Alihttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/290322014-08-09T01:01:46Z2014-08-08T14:00:32ZTitle: Banking efficiency, risk and stock performance in the European Union banking system : the effect of the world financial crisis
Authors: Janoudi, Saleem Mohammed Ali
Abstract: This thesis has three main objectives; first, it assesses and evaluates cost and profit efficiencies of the European Union banking system by employing the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) over the period 2004-2010. It divides the EU region into four groups; the entire EU region, the old and the new EU countries as well as the GIIPS countries. Second, this study investigates the determinants of bank cost and profit inefficiencies with the focus mainly being on the role of banking risks and the world financial crisis (2007-2009) in affecting banking efficiency. Third, this thesis evaluates the impact of different variables on bank stock returns, with the emphasis on bank efficiency, risk and the world financial crisis, over the period 2004-2010.
The empirical findings show that commercial banks in the EU improve their cost and profit efficiencies on average between 2004 and 2010. Also, banks in the old EU countries appear to be more cost efficient but less profit efficient compared to banks in the new EU countries. Interestingly, the empirical analysis concludes that overall insolvency, credit and liquidity risks have significant and positive effects on bank cost and profit inefficiencies during the world financial crisis, suggesting that banks that maintain less risk outperform their counterparts during crisis time. The world financial crisis appears to affect negatively both cost and profit efficiencies of EU banks; however, it has stronger negative effect on banks in the old EU member states than in the new EU countries. Finally, the results show that changes in cost and profit efficiencies along with capital and size variables appear to have a positive and significant influence on bank stock performance in the EU and that bank stock returns are significantly sensitive to market and interest rate risks.2014-08-08T14:00:32ZTimely lives and lively times in a French advertising agencyBouchetoux, Françoishttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/289592014-07-04T01:01:24Z2014-07-03T11:22:28ZTitle: Timely lives and lively times in a French advertising agency
Authors: Bouchetoux, François
Abstract: The thesis presents an ethnographic study of a group of cultural intermediaries at work in a French advertising agency. A theoretical frame drawn from selected works in cultural economy, sociology and philosophy is deployed to address the ill-understood nature of uncertainty in practice-based research on advertising. Practice-based accounts by marketers, sociologists and anthropologists typically suggest that advertising agencies are unstable businesses because they work with unpredictable stakeholders (consumers and above all clients), and because they struggle to establish the legitimacy of their expertise. The problem with this argument, however, is that whilst it insists on the fragmented identities of practitioners locked in their doubts, anxieties and even myths, the everyday nature, experience and ways in which cultural intermediaries deal with such uncertainties are underexplored.
During the three-month empirical study multiple research methods were used to collect data, including participant observation, interviews and visual techniques. It was established during fieldwork that uncertainty is best expressed in the awkward relationships practitioners entertain with time. The analysis of these relationships runs through three analysis chapters. One explains how imaginative conversations, practices and uses of objects seek to restrain time-related uncertainties by ―constructing‖ time. The second further analyses this construction by describing the ways in which practitioners unshackle themselves from their feelings of wasting time. The third relates this construction to the ways in which time is incorporated into creative work and sold to clients. The thesis contributes a deeper and temporally-based interpretation of uncertainty to the small number of ethnographic studies of advertising agencies.2014-07-03T11:22:28ZComplexity theory & the measure of organisationsAbusidualghoul, Victoria Jemmahttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/289202014-06-17T01:01:40Z2014-06-16T13:48:41ZTitle: Complexity theory & the measure of organisations
Authors: Abusidualghoul, Victoria Jemma
Abstract: This dissertation explores the literature relating to organisational complexity, organisational measurement, educational institution measurement and qualitative research methods with a specific focus on participant-centredness. This is with a view to seeing whether complexity can provide a suitable underpinning for the exploration of educational institution assessment; whether effictility is a more useful and measurable construct than efficiency for school assessment; and whether the participant-guided tour is a viable first round research tool for recognising effictility. Early on, apparently immeasureable efficiency is replaced with measureable effictility: the efficient and effective utility of human and non-human resources within the constraints of a spatial and temporal context. The study is cross-disciplinary because it draws from such fields as management, human geography, sociology, educational management theory, education policy and philosophy, and the theoretical and real threads of complexity, space and time wend their way through the discourse. The first four literature-based chapters build together to provide the foundation for the practicalities explored in two case studies. These are set up to consist of a four-phase process at two technically similar and yet operationally very different schools. Greatly contrasting measures of success are achieved which in turn richly inform the discussion on the realities of institutional measurement. The research process also throws up some interesting themes through experimentation with innovative interview stimuli. Thus, the study’s contribution to knowledge is four-fold. It juxtaposes a theory and context that have rarely been put together – namely, complexity and education. It provides evidence to support the controversial notion that organisational efficiency cannot be measured. It introduces the concept of effictility and the methodological innovation: the participant-guided tour.2014-06-16T13:48:41ZThe influence of power on knowledge flow and utilisation of Social capital : a case study in process & product innovation In ChinaLiu, Xuelinhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/288942014-06-07T01:01:24Z2014-06-06T14:13:08ZTitle: The influence of power on knowledge flow and utilisation of Social capital : a case study in process & product innovation In China
Authors: Liu, Xuelin2014-06-06T14:13:08ZBasel Accords and the effect on regulatory Capital : the case for Extreme Value theory during market crises in emerging and frontier stock marketsRossignolo, Adrian Fernandohttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/287552014-04-12T01:01:27Z2014-04-11T13:27:16ZTitle: Basel Accords and the effect on regulatory Capital : the case for Extreme Value theory during market crises in emerging and frontier stock markets
Authors: Rossignolo, Adrian Fernando
Abstract: Since the late 1980s, the Basel Committee has been intending to regulate the financial
sector with a view to establish common regulatory standards for the banking industry
through the Basel Capital Accords. Successive crises have uncovered several flaws in
those directives that were remedied enacting tougher and more sophisticated mandates,
particularly regarding the calculation of the Minimum Capital Requirements after the
introduction of Value-at-Risk as the official measure to quantify market risks. However,
Basel regulations have, in many respects, been incapable to forestall the adverse effects
that market turmoil exerts on the banking system. The present thesis aims at analysing
the MCR scheme employing the former Basel II and the current Basel III Capital
Accords applying the VaR-based Internal Model Approach and the Standardised
Approach through a variety of specifications in times of crisis using a sample of
Emerging and Frontier stock markets. The findings detected structural glitches in the
configuration of the Basel’s MCR formula, given the fact that both the SA and many
inaccurate VaR models are allowed to compute MCR. Furthermore, there is clear
evidence of the superiority of the Extreme Value Theory to calculate an adequate capital
base during abrupt market swings. Basel regulations must act accordingly and reward
the accuracy calibrating the extrinsic multiples and additional buffers in line with the
behaviour of the models: the thesis underlines that, provided appropriate schemes had
been applied, Basel II MCR would have prevented capital shortages in 2007-2008. The
thesis also detects the presence of moral hazard and adverse incentives to utilise sharp
models like EVT in Basel regulations and proposes a radical overhaul of the SA and a
taylor-made evaluation of the parameters of the VaR-based IMA as a methodology to
reward and entice the adoption of models that allow the correct estimation of market
risk.2014-04-11T13:27:16ZOrganizing technological innovation of medical devices companies : an empirical study of two Midland venture companiesEspinosa Cristia, Juan Felipehttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/287062014-03-27T12:58:56Z2014-03-25T10:19:18ZTitle: Organizing technological innovation of medical devices companies : an empirical study of two Midland venture companies
Authors: Espinosa Cristia, Juan Felipe
Abstract: This thesis presents a qualitative study of the role of devices in the technological innovation phenomena of two venture medical equipment companies located in the Midlands, UK. The inquiry takes an empirical and non-foundational approach based on post-ANT and process philosophy. In particular, the thesis employs the theoretical lenses of both ANT and post-ANT concepts, Deleuze’s and Guattari’s machinic thought and Michel Serres’ parasitic philosophy. The data for this thesis comes from a fieldwork study lasting around one year. The methodology is mainly based on interviews and observations of engineers, technicians and managers working in venture companies. The central argument of this thesis shows that the venture organizing process of technological innovation is the product of discursive and non-discursive elements that act in several forms, keeping the venture company working but crucially reorganizing it. The present thesis offers a conceptualization of the device as a parasite-selector that reorganizes the venture company’s work activities and brings novelty to their operation. Equally, the mediational power of diagrams - which presents constitutional indifference - participates in the definition and production of the engineers’, managers’ and technicians’ professional identities. The thesis shows how the ideas regarding innovation in use at Med Dialysis and Med Diabetes bring forth the necessity of a life that embraces the uncertainty and ambiguity of the market. As a consequence, engineers and technicians build their professional identities by embracing the uncertainty of the venture company. This thesis names this process ‘engineering the engineer’. This is a process that leads to the emergence of a professional identity that this thesis tentatively calls the ‘venture engineer’.2014-03-25T10:19:18ZThree essays on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)Pathan, Saima Kamranhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/286242014-03-05T02:01:52Z2014-03-04T16:20:20ZTitle: Three essays on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Authors: Pathan, Saima Kamran
Abstract: This thesis examines the effects of joining currency unions and trade agreements as well as political risk on FDI. It also engages in the empirical examination of the Eclectic Paradigm. The aim of this research is to extend the current knowledge on the determinants of FDI, as various empirical studies have found mixed results. The first empirical chapter investigates the impact of membership of currency unions and trade agreements on FDI inflows, outflows, and net FDI (inflows-outflows) by using pooled OLS estimation method for a sample of 180 countries during the period of 1970 to 2007. The second empirical chapter analyses the impact of political risk on FDI inflows into OECD countries by using pooled OLS estimation and fixed effects panel data methods throughout the period of 1975 to 2009. The third empirical chapter examines the relationship between determinants of FDI from the perspective of Eclectic Paradigm for the sample of 196 countries for the period of 1970 to 2009. My study uses up-to-date large macro datasets for long periods. Insights are provided on the impact of regional trade agreements and currency unions on FDI, a topic on which the literature is relatively scarce. Similarly, another contribution is the analysis of FDI outflows and net FDI, which did not receive much attention in previous studies. This thesis further investigates the impact of political environment in the country on FDI inflows using a wide range of political indicators. Lastly, the investigation presented here confirms the predictions of the Eclectic Paradigm, as ownership, location and internalization-specific advantages seem to play an important role in the investment decisions of MNE. Finally, some implications for investors and governments as well as suggestions for further studies are presented at the end of the thesis.2014-03-04T16:20:20ZCommercialisation of microfinance in PakistanHina, Hadiahttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/285672014-12-04T13:37:48Z2014-02-05T14:44:06ZTitle: Commercialisation of microfinance in Pakistan
Authors: Hina, Hadia
Abstract: This study investigates the growing commercial focus of microfinance institutions in
Pakistan. Specifically, the aim of the study is to examine the impact of
commercialisation on microfinance institutions and their users or clients – micro
borrowers. A selective review of the multidisciplinary literature on microfinance, its
commercialisation and its context specifically in Pakistan is used to develop a
conceptual framework for the thesis. The study uses mixed methods, where analysis of
a series of interviews and focus group meetings is combined with quantitative data
analysis to give deeper and more nuanced understanding of the consequences of
microfinance’s commercialisation. Moreover, particular attention is given to important
themes, including: outreach, profitability, mission, and the prevailing practices of
microfinance institutions. The principal findings of the study indicate, firstly, that with
increased commercialisation, microfinance institutions in Pakistan tend to confined to a
few parts of the country, mostly urban; in particular microfinance tends not to reach
rural areas where poverty is more widespread. Secondly, it is found that microfinance
institutions and some of the borrowers employ unsavoury practices that exploit cultural
norms. Finally, this study argues that commercialisation of microfinance has resulted in
a negative impact not only on micro borrowers but also on commercial microfinance
institutions themselves, which largely fail to achieve their stated objective of
profitability and ‘sustainability’.2014-02-05T14:44:06ZInternational stock market integration of emerging Europe : analyses from aggregate level to firm level, from tranquil periods to shock periodsEmin, Dogushttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/283742013-11-09T02:02:25Z2013-11-08T13:26:13ZTitle: International stock market integration of emerging Europe : analyses from aggregate level to firm level, from tranquil periods to shock periods
Authors: Emin, Dogus
Abstract: This thesis contains 3 empirical chapters with relevance to the ‘international stock market integration’ literature.
The first chapter aims to investigate the evolution of the international integration of emerging European stock markets with the world market for the period of 1996 to 2011. For this purpose, using dynamic conditional correlation approaches, the changes that occur in correlation (integration) levels due to four global/regional incidents: i) the 1998 Russian crisis; ii) the 2001 dotcom crisis and the 9/11 shocks; iii) the 2004 EU enlargement; and iv) the 2007-2009 global financial crisis are examined. The findings show that the volatilities of emerging European stock markets and their correlation structures with the world market significantly change due to the impacts of global/regional incidents. Although it is obvious that each incident has a differential impact on each country depending on the internal dynamics of those countries at the times of incidents, the findings still clearly reveal the general common impacts of the investigated incidents on the volatilities and the correlation structures of the sample countries with the world market.
The second chapter investigates the international stock market integration phenomenon at a disaggregated level for emerging European countries. For this purpose, by using the Geweke technique (1982) the world market integration levels of individual companies, namely ‘individual stock integrations’ are measured. Furthermore, by using firm specific and industry level variables, the year to year changes in integration levels are explained to identify the determinants of an individual level stock integration. The results confirm the presence of individual stock integration since each company is integrated with the world market at different level of strength. Furthermore, panel data analysis shows that it is possible to explain those differences on the individual integration levels with both company specific variables and industry level variables.
Comparing tranquil and shock periods’ heteroscedasticity corrected conditional correlations and dynamic conditional correlations; the final chapter tests the widely accepted belief of the significance of a ‘contagion effect’ from the US to emerging European countries during the latest global financial crisis. The chapter reveals that although the contagion effect is the most blamed factor for the propagation of financial crises, particularly for the last global financial crisis, the presence of contagion effect from the US market (crisis-origin country) is not that certain since the conclusion is highly dependent on econometric specifications and sample period diversifications.2013-11-08T13:26:13ZImpact of Computerization on Public Universities' Administration: A Case Study of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan's Pilot ProjectAftab, Faisalhttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/280092013-06-26T01:05:36Z2013-06-25T12:45:01ZTitle: Impact of Computerization on Public Universities' Administration: A Case Study of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan's Pilot Project
Authors: Aftab, Faisal
Abstract: The aim of the research was to explore the impact of a recent computerization process launched by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan which sought to improve the universities’ administrative performance. My research followed and observed the effects of the computerization process within two universities that participated in a pilot project. Performance was observed on an iterative basis in the shape of ‘form’, ‘performativity’, and ‘formation’. Actor-Network Theory was applied as an approach to explore the socio-technical environment. The sites were visited to observe the transformed environment and its changed nature after the completion of computerization project. Besides observing the sites, interviews, documentation reading and storytelling methods were used to capture qualitative data. The research’s outcome enhanced theoretical and practical knowledge. The study findings provided an insight on the university work realm engulfed in a body of politics where power and information circulation changes when the computerized campus management system is introduced as an element of change. The study demonstrates that localization of the computer software system required changes to be made within the work environment. However, during this process the element of change itself had to be changed to some extent, in order to meet the particular needs of these universities. The thesis also emphasises the various types of resistance that the computerization process faced within these universities. The findings may also be used by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan to fine tune their universities’ computerization process for continuation of the project of providing campus management system for all public universities.2013-06-25T12:45:01ZThe Biopolitics of Chronic Fatigue SyndromeKarfakis, Nikolaoshttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/279692013-06-15T01:02:03Z2013-06-14T09:13:11ZTitle: The Biopolitics of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Authors: Karfakis, Nikolaos
Abstract: This thesis approaches Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) as a biopolitical problem, that is as a shifting scientific object which needs to be studied, classified and regulated. Assemblages of authorities, knowledges, and techniques make CFS subjects and shape their everyday conduct in an attempt to increase their supposed autonomy, wellbeing and health. CFS identities are, however, made not only through government, scientific and medical interventions but also by the patients themselves, a biosocial community that collaborates with scientists, educates itself about the intricacies of biomedicine, and contests psychiatric truth claims. CFS is a socio-medical disorder, an illness trapped between medicine, psychology and society, an illness that is open to debate, and therefore difficult to manage and standardise. CFS is, thus, more than a fixed and defined medical category; it is a performative and multiple category, it is a heterogeneous world. This thesis studies that performative complexity by assembling different pieces of empirical data that constitute its heterogeneity: medical and psychiatric journals and monographs, self-help books, CFS organisations’ magazines, newsletters and websites, illness narratives and social studies of CFS, CFS blogs, and qualitative interviews with diagnosed CFS patients and CFS activists. The thesis delineates different interventions by medicine, science, the state and the patients themselves and concludes that CFS remains elusive, only partially standardised, in an on-going battle between all the different actors that want to define it for their own situated interests.2013-06-14T09:13:11ZEthnofinance: A Study of the Daily Accounting and Financing Practices of a Sinhalese Women's CommunityChandrasekara, Ishanihttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/278392013-04-05T01:02:07Z2013-04-04T10:37:04ZTitle: Ethnofinance: A Study of the Daily Accounting and Financing Practices of a Sinhalese Women's Community
Authors: Chandrasekara, Ishani
Abstract: Despite the diversity of issues it addresses, the accounting and finance literature has yet to turn its attention to the accounting practices of large numbers of women in the Global South - subaltern women. Indeed few attempts have been made to theorise the diverse forms of accounting and finance practiced outside Europe. This study seeks to recover the sociocultural aspects of accounting and finance practiced among Sinhalese women in Sri Lanka to encounter their community organizations. The term 'Ethnofinance' is used to describe a way to recover the sociocultural composition of subaltern women's community practices of accounting and finance.
To achieve this recovery, the study draws on the work of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Luce
Irigaray and considers what Naila Kabeer calls 'the multiple realities' of subaltern women. It lets the subaltern women speak for themselves in order to value their accounting and financing practices, while at the same time acknowledging the possibility and necessity of different ways of being and thinking across cultures. Methodologically, the study - through feminist ethnography - attempts to adhere to the feminist ethos of valuing daily experiences of life. The thesis asks how the knowledge of subaltern women about accounting and finance has revolved around sociocultural dynamics of community organization. The research reveals that subaltern women's knowledge of accounting and finance attests to feminine practices and operates through friendships, kin relationships and social relations. These community organizations develop social wealth through their thrifts, based on traditional practices of saving. The organisations and their thrifts protect women from intrusive practices of the state and non-governmental organisations.
The contribution of the thesis overall is to create a new platform within the accounting and finance discourse where Ethnofinance can receive serious consideration.2013-04-04T10:37:04ZThe Living Experience of Emotions and Workplace Learning: A Relational ViewCassai, Paolohttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/276892013-03-14T16:13:41Z2013-01-17T12:23:38ZTitle: The Living Experience of Emotions and Workplace Learning: A Relational View
Authors: Cassai, Paolo
Abstract: In academic literature the interplay between emotions and workplace learning is a largely neglected topic which, this thesis argues, is nonetheless very important in order to better understand both phenomena. Indeed learning and emotions are vital and pervasive aspects of individual and organisational life, and their interplay appears to have considerable social importance. Thus, the thesis challenges the over-rational portrayal of organisational life, arguing that emotions are key pointers to human learning, and the denial of emotions is the denial of learning. By taking a relational view, derived from a hermeneutical-pragmatist research approach, the thesis argues that emotions and learning are powerful sources of meaning and direction, supporting or inhibiting individuals and organisations in their attempts to re-define reality and find their place in it (Antonacopoulou and Gabriel, 2001).
The study uses interviews and observation to examine the interplay between emotions and learning in a professional workplace setting. It aims to contribute to knowledge developing this complex connection, exploring how learning and emotions are experienced by human resource development professionals at the micro-level of their day-to-day practices, in the context of the socio-cultural processes of their working life. The empirical data indicate that emotions and workplace learning are contextual, embodied and relational phenomena. They also indicate that these phenomena are essential elements of our being-in-the-world, that is of our living and changing (becoming), and of our being intertwined in socio-cultural contexts. Thus, this thesis contributes to the scholarly literature on the interplay between emotions and workplace learning, and establishes a relational understanding of how such phenomena can be elements of constructing human resource development professionals’ emergent and complex identities at work.2013-01-17T12:23:38ZOil Corporations and the Environment: The Case of the Niger DeltaGusau, Tukur Ismailahttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/275942013-03-14T16:14:07Z2012-11-21T12:48:41ZTitle: Oil Corporations and the Environment: The Case of the Niger Delta
Authors: Gusau, Tukur Ismaila
Abstract: Nigeria is the world’s thirteenth largest oil exporter, with exports of over 2.2 million barrels per day (OPEC report, 2010). The capital-intensive oil sector provides 95 per cent of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings, and about 65 per cent of budgetary revenues. Despite the huge resources from oil sales, the major stake holders within the Nigerian oil sector (the government, host communities, and oil companies) generally believe there is environmental degradation in the oil region. However, they sharply disagree on what precisely constitutes environmental degradation in the Niger Delta and who bears responsibility for it. The major stake holders; accuse one another as being responsible for the situation (Frynas 1999).
My research examines the conflicting set of voices and claims among the stake holders in the Nigerian oil industry in describing what environmental degradation is and how it affects their relationships with each other. My argument is that though the key players in the Nigerian oil industry render quite different accounts of what the environment means to them, they all seem to be plausible and, indeed convincing in their own accounts. As a result, the more ‘convincing’ the accounts seem to be, the more dramatic the views become and the more apparent it becomes that we need to employ rigorous analyses to create order in the diversity of their different conflicting accounts by showing that there is much to be gained by setting free the different versions of voices that the key players use to explain what the environment means in their relationship.
This thesis considers face to face interviews as a method to explore how my respondents give their own versions of what their environment means to them in their social world. The thesis argues that the way people give their version can be interpreted within the perspective of Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor which views the performers acting on stage as “merchants of morality” (1956:156).2012-11-21T12:48:41ZThe Meanings of Corporate Branding: Perceptions of Engineering Professionals in Three British Engineering ConsultanciesSheikh, Alirezahttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/110622013-03-14T16:13:49Z2012-10-05T12:51:22ZTitle: The Meanings of Corporate Branding: Perceptions of Engineering Professionals in Three British Engineering Consultancies
Authors: Sheikh, Alireza
Abstract: Corporate branding research has developed fairly rapidly over the past fifteen years.
Insights from a diversity of contexts have contributed significantly to the development of the concept. However, extant studies still, by large, remain under the purview of marketing and insights from non-marketing perspectives are very limited. Furthermore, the viewpoint of employees in engineering-intensive contexts is widely understudied.
Hence, this thesis aims to shed further empirical light on the meanings and implications of corporate branding from the perspective of engineers in the context of three British engineering consulting companies. An interpretive, qualitative and inductive approach through case study research design is adopted as the methodology of this thesis.
Findings revealed the meanings and implications of corporate branding as well as the reasons for engineers’ disengagement with the corporate brand initiatives. Emergent themes and findings are presented through six organizing themes: the inter-dynamism and mutual implications of personal brands and the corporate brand, the tensions between the two organizing structures of professional partnership and corporation, the conduct of corporate branding and corporate brand communication, the implications of economic downturns for the corporate brand, the engineering-marketing dichotomy and its implications for the corporate brand and, last, the association between organizational culture, organizational identity and the corporate brand.2012-10-05T12:51:22ZThe Impossible Writing of Business EthicsKaramali, Elenihttp://hdl.handle.net/2381/110602013-03-14T16:13:25Z2012-10-05T12:25:17ZTitle: The Impossible Writing of Business Ethics
Authors: Karamali, Eleni
Abstract: This thesis offers a deconstructive reading of Business Ethics. Following Jacques Derrida, it shows how a deconstructive reading is not a reading which brings a set of protocols to an object or judgments to a field - we are not here concerned with offering an external criticism of Business Ethics, as if we were privy to its incontestable truth from the very outset. Instead, our reading of Business Ethics is a reading which strives to come to terms with Business Ethics’ own limits by considering how the literature on Business Ethics limits itself. We pursue this reading of Business Ethics as a self-limiting writing along two principal registers - hospitality and translation – in both cases demonstrating how Business Ethics constitutes its outside as an outside which it simultaneously treats as an inside, and thereby annihilates. It is in this sense that we read Business Ethics as an ‘impossible writing’, impossible precisely because the very self-presence it seeks to grant to itself - the would-be language of ethical business - is itself foreclosed within the very gesture of seeking an encounter with a language it takes as its own. The first such gesture we consider is the manner in which Business Ethics invites the work of Emmanuel Levinas, albeit on certain conditions which serve only to make a welcoming of Levinasian ethics impossible. The second such gesture we consider is the manner in which Business Ethics translates itself into and out of the languages of Business and Ethics respectively, only to make its own language impossible. These two instances of impossibility, rather than serving to fatally limit the field, must rather be read as fundamentally constitutive of it. I conclude by arguing for an understanding of Business Ethics writing as both necessary and impossible.2012-10-05T12:25:17Z